The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine with preferably V-shaped cylinder rows and a crankshaft supported in a crankcase which is constructed adjacent an end-face of the crankcase for the drive of auxiliary aggregates and/or endless elements, whereby the auxiliary aggregates and/or endless elements are covered at least partially by a detachable covering extending over a partial area of the end face.
In a known internal combustion engine described in French Patent 18.655 (addition to French Patent 457,474), an oil pump is arranged at the end-face of a crankcase whose housing is completely non-covered so that the noises of the oil pump appear essentially unobstructedly.
It is the object of the present invention to provide an internal combustion engine whose crankcase and crankshaft are so constructed at an end face that auxiliary aggregates and/or endless elements of the internal combustion engine are covered off in a cost-favorable and weight-saving manner to provide a low-noise arrangement with functionally correct drive.
The underlying problems are solved according to the present invention in that the covering is a sheet metal part having at least two relatively thin-walled layers, has a pot-shaped cross section and is secured at the end face of the crankcase by means of a circumferential edge flange and by means of bolts, and in that the covering is further supported with a section of a base wall at a housing of the auxiliary aggregate formed by the oil pump.
The principal advantages achieved with the present invention reside in that the covering provides a low-noise cover for the auxiliary aggregates and endless elements at the end face of the crankcase. The covering formed by two relatively thin-walled sheet metal layers can thereby be manufactured in a simple and light-weight manner. Additionally, it absorbs without any problems the thermal expansions of the, for example, light-metal crankcase.
Owing to the extension connected with the crankcase, not only a short type of construction is possible with the mentioned crankshaft, but the drive of the auxiliary aggregates and endless elements can be realized in an effective manner. Additionally, the extension contributes to assembly simplification of the auxiliary aggregates and/or endless elements.